Page 62 of Forged in Deception

Her playful smile quickly turned into a frown as he shared the truth about Bajwa’s background.

He’d hidden his secrets well, and she couldn’t help but feel a sting of betrayal.

He wasn’t a good boss, and he wasn’t an ethical researcher. He was obnoxious half the time, and he spent the other half of the time dragging her into his questionable decisions.

But she’d also seen the way he’d inspired her–and many other people they worked with–in the past. He’d encouraged her to learn and to discover. He had seemed genuinely fascinated by psychedelic research, and it hurt to know how much of his passion was probably based in nothing more honorable than his own pride.

“He’s such a scumbag,” she spat, allowing her anger to block out her hurt. “We need to take him down.”

“Hold up, sheriff,” Axel said, lifting both hands from the steering wheel in surrender just as they shuddered over a pothole. “Just because he’s a liar and probably a professional scammer doesn’t mean we need to lose our focus,” Axel said. “Senera itself has the most to gain here, and we need to tie in as many people as possible.”

“Building the case, right?”

“Kinda,” Axel said, a playful grin teasing his lips. “I was thinking more like that scene in The Dark Knight where Two-Face and Commissioner Gordon talk about tying all the Gotham crime lords to a single crime.”

“What are you even talking about?”

“Hello? Batman? One of the most popular and cool movies of all time?”

Karlin shook her head. “I told you. Nerd.Totalnerd.”

Axel looked like he was about to argue, but they had just crested a hill and could now see the Senera compound stretching out below.

“Okay, let’s do this,” she said, her voice clipped.

No more teasing. It was time to focus.

A few minutes later, they’d parked in one of the staff spaces and climbed out of the truck. There were a few other vehicles peppering the lot, but this was as quiet as it was ever going to get.

“See that door?”

Axel followed her gaze and nodded.

“If you stay along this wall here, you’ll be out of view of the cameras. Go to the door and wait for me. I’m going to go in the normal way and come let you in.”

She moved to walk to the front entrance, but he grabbed her arm, easily stopping her where she stood. She was about to shake herself free of his grip, but the look in his eyes quieted her in an instant.

He took one step closer, then two, and all of a sudden he was very, very close.

She could smell the light mint scent of his breath, and now she realized that his cologne carried a faint note of leather.

Still holding on to her, as though she might bolt, he reached up with his free hand and stroked her cheek.

“I really did love watching the sunrise with you,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. It could have been a silly thing to say, but there was no hint of a joke in it. He was so painfully sincere, so honest about wanting to be with her. Why was it so difficult for her to believe in the obvious evidence, right in front of her eyes?

She wanted to say something in return, but no words would form. She was too busy thinking of what it would be like to kiss him, to feel his lips pressing into hers. She was surprised she could still think at all with so little distance between them.

Without any further comment, he let her go and pointed at the door. “I’ll see you in there.”

“Uh, okay,” she stammered. He gave her another delicious smile before turning away and striding over to the wall, just as she’d directed.

She stood there for several seconds too long before remembering that they seriously did need to hurry it up. There was no way to know for sure exactly how long Bajwa and the others would take to return, and she didn’t want to take any chances.

She headed for the main entrance, but just as she was about to unlock the door, she was sure that she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.

She whirled around, glancing behind her and along the edge of the parking lot, but found nothing aside from well-manicured flowers and a few bushes.

She turned the key, drawing a few breaths to settle her nerves. It was probably a mouse, or a bird, or even just a gust of wind. Axel’s flirting had clearly put her on edge, but there was no more time for distractions. She had to focus on getting this done.

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